Travels with Rose
by ErzaYodaDoctorSherlock
Summary: Sometimes I think the episodes of Dr Who could do with a tweak. So; Whilst dealing with the Cybermen and the Headless Monks, the 10th encounters a TimeLord. They're an old friend and currently a TimeLady. She goes on to travel around with him, having survived the Time War not by choice either. But she's not there all the time, she does have her own adventures.


I walk down the hill and come across a friend of mine. I cut off his head. I'll let the headless monks decide if they want him. The Doctor is racing after me. Here it comes.

'Who _are_ you?'

'Someone who's seen you before,' I reply.

'What? When?'

'A long time ago.'

'How long ago?'

'When I was 65.'

'What? How are you over 65? Did they slow your body clock?'

'No, although I do age a lot slower than humans.'

'What?'

'Doctor, look, now is really not the time, we're surrounded by Cybermen.'

'Not really, they're all powered down after I put their main energy feed into an automated electron siphon matrix and electrocuted them all into a state of paralysis. See?' he says and pokes one on its helmet.

'You forgot the bio-damper,' I add slyly.

'What?'

'Before you connected the main socket into the secondary pivoting engine of the proton changer, you would've had to connect a bio-damper to the main energy feed, otherwise it would have ended in a reverse energy flow.'

'Right, well, you grasp this stuff better than Rose, don't you?'

'The human brain has a great capacity, however it often fails to grasp the speed of calculations and the reality of what the brain is processing, or as they call it, get their head round it. Personally, I prefer the Aplans. Their two brains function almost in sync gives them the edge when it comes to quicker uses of the mind.'

'Okay, you're really… smart.'

'Thank you. You're not so bad yourself.'

'So, when are you going to tell me who the hell you are?'

'Ha! It's funny really. I spoke to you nearly every day.'

'What, in my future?'

'No, your previous regenerations.'

'What?! When I was on Earth?'

I look at the Doctor closely. 'Let's go back to the Tardis. I'll tell you there.'

We walk back over the hill and see the blue box. Out comes the Doctor's key and we go inside. Rose is asleep on a cushion she got from a market on Alpha Matraxis.

'Doctor, you fought in the Time War, correct?'

'Yes. Hold on, why are you bringing that up?' A shadow crosses his face.

'Because I did too. Of course, I hadn't time travelled beforehand which means I didn't gain a few hundred years between the time of 'early days' and the Time of the War.'

'You fought in the Time War?'

I feel my eyes stinging. 'Yes.'

'What are you?'

'My name is The Wizard. Well… yeah, Wizard. Search through your memory and find me. In your first regeneration through to the eighth. Think.'

The Doctor looks at the centre of the Tardis while he thinks. When it becomes clear that he's not getting it, I start humming a tune that was only ever sung on one planet.

He looks at me, startled. 'No…'

'Yes. Your funny old friend who shared the same views. Seen old Churchill lately?'

'I don't believe it. I thought you were all gone.'

'So did I.'

'I'm not…'

'Well, technically you are still the last… but let's not go into that. We both know the rules of time.'

I meet the Doctor's eyes and burst out laughing. I give him a big hug.

'Sorry,' says a voice and we both jump. Rose is sitting up, watching.

'Rose?' says the Doctor. I can't see her.

I let go so I can turn around.

'But, I'm sorry, I wasn't really asleep, but who are you?'

'Rose, I'm a Timelord. Well, Timelady technically, but at the same time technically a Timelord.'

'What? That' not possible.'

'Yes it is. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.'

'Doctor, that's not helping.'

'And above everything else, she's one of my oldest friends! Oh! We used to go on adventures and paint the library green and, oh!'

After a long talk trying to calm Rose down, who seems to be slightly cold to me, we are all sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea each.

'So, what regeneration are you on now?'

'5th,' I reply, 'I'm 586. I've had this body for six years. I've been working for unit on Earth for the past 20 odd years, I left last month. Saw Captain Jack, too. He looks well. Didn't have a clue who I was.'

'This is your fifth body now? You've regenerated four times?'

'Yep. Each of my bodies have lasted about 145 years.'

'You're careful.'

'No, just bored.'

The Doctor meets my eyes and smiles.

We go to another planet and are watching the stars when Rose says something that makes both me and the Doctor shrink.

'So what was it like? Gallifrey.'

The Doctor's eyes go stone cold and mine fade into nothing.

'Silver trees and golden grass,' I finally say, nearly crying.

'To anyone who sees it from a distance or doesn't pay attention, it seems like a mining town, all red dust. But you look closer and see its beauty.'

'The shining mountains.'

'That second sun.'

'The shining world of the seven systems.'

'Solace and Solitude.' I cry at that.

'What are they?' asks Rose.

'Mountains,' I say, 'The most beautiful mountains anyone's ever seen.'

'Strong and old. The planet and the people.'

'A divine race dedicated to seeing all of time.'

'Spheres of cities. Culture that was incalculable.'

'Ruled by the strongest government in the universe. We never interfered, only observed. But when the Daleks opposed life, we stood. I'll never forget that war.'

'We stood bravely against every odd.' I notice the Doctor is struggling.

'And we didn't lose. We had victory, for the Daleks were stopped. We fell, noble to the end.'

'I watched it burn, Rose. It's gone forever. I don't think I could even see it again if I could.'

Tears are streaming down both our faces.

'The gold turned to yellow, then orange, then red.'

'Then…'

'Black,' I finish.

'Gone.'

'But it lives on. It will stand forever, the Timelords will never be forgotten. Because one of us carries the weight of everything. Or at least you think you do.'

The Doctor looks to me.

'The storeroom the moment was sealed in couldn't be penetrated by the Tardis.'

He looks at me, dread on his face.

'I let you in. I let you pass. I covered my hands in our blood as well. I also tweaked it so it didn't have put up a fight, so all you had to was press the button. I made it so that it would work.'

'I was the one who planned it, used it.'

'And I knew that. I knew we couldn't continue, no matter how many,' my throat sticks, 'children there were. Those last days were the living hell none but death could escape. I could hear the universe shaking, time exploding as its pure force was put to the slavery of bloodshed. I couldn't stand it. I would have used the moment if you didn't.'

'No you wouldn't.'

'Yes I would. The pain I saw. The options, fading, I… …

'We were powerless. I lost fifteen friends in those last days. And the ones that died in the burning were in less suffering than the ones that were killed by the Daleks.' My voice feels like giving in but I refuse to let it do so.

'I know, but… they're all gone. The Timelords. The greatest race in history and future.'

'Saved from suffering by one who carries all of theirs. You carry the pain of everyone, and so do I. Because I know that, despite its conscience, the moment would have not stopped me. I would have used all my lives until I gave up.'

'The most beautiful planet.'

'The most powerful, the greatest, the most noble.'

'The most giving.'

'The ones who stood for the sake of the universe.'

I look at the Doctor and the bond we already had from centuries ago strengthens into something unimaginable.

'You can't change your memory and I doubt you would. It's who you are. You can't change that.'

'I know. But it's…'

'You don't have to carry their pain. Gallifrey understands what you did. You are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven.'

We stay there, Rose watching us. I hold the Doctor's hand and watch the stars. Words need now not be said. We have reached an understanding between each other. We are the only ones left. Two Timelords. But he still is the last one, and I can't change that. But right now, we are here. Two Timelords. The echo of the greatest race in the universe and outside. The race that will never be forgotten.

I'm sitting in the Tardis when Mickey rings the Doctor up. We arrive at the school, make a plan and get to it.

As we are about to set off, Rose asks me something. 'So, what are you two, like friends?'

'Oh, we go way back, but yes, very tight friends. I'm so happy for you!'

'What?'

I wink innocently. Rose scoffs as the Doctor comes back.

'So… is your name really Anna or…?'

'I have three. A hidden, Timelord name like the Doctor's, Anna Patricks, like his John Smith, and The Wizard, like the Doctor. I prefer The Wizard, but Anna is also fine.'

Day Two.

The Doctor goes off to teach a class and I go along, pretending to be his niece who is visiting from Canada. We walk in and I let the Doctor get to it.

'Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?'

I know I'm not. I pat the inside of my long coat and feel for my sonic. It's there.

'So… Physics.' He writes it on the board.

Uh-oh.

'Physics, eh? Physicss. Phyyysics. Physics. Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics, Physics. Physics!'

I roll my eyes.

'Hope one of you are getting all this down, okay! Let's see what you know.'

I lose interest. Humans have very little understanding of the Universe.

'Two identical strips of Nylon are charged with static electricity and hung from strings so they can swing freely. What would happen if they were brought near each other?'

A boy puts his hand up.

'Yes? Er… what's your name?'

'Milo.'

'Milo! Of you go.'

'They'd repel each other because they have the same charge.'

'Correctamundo… a word I… have never used before and hopefully never will again.'

I chuckle in the chair behind the desk.

'Question two. I coil up a thin piece of micro wire and place it in a glass of water. Then I turn on the electricity and measure to see I the water's temperature is affected. My question is this. How do I measure the electrical power going into the coil?'

I'm looking closely at the students. Again, Milo puts his hand up and is the only one to do so.

'Someone else. Mmm… Nope? Okay, Milo, go for it.'

'Measure the current and PDs in an ammeter and a voltmeter.'

I look at him carefully. Okay. Let's see how good he really is. I stand up and walk round the desk and sit on it at the front.

'Two to Milo. Right then Milo, tell me this. True or False. The greater the dampening of the system, the quicker it loses energy to its surroundings.'

'False.'

The Doctor speeds up. 'What is non-coding DNA?'

'DNA that doesn't code for a protein.'

'Sixty-five thousand, nine hundred and eighty three times five?'

'Three hundred and twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and fifteen.'

Here it comes. The Doctor glances at me extremely briefly then asks; 'how do you travel faster than the speed of light?'

'By opening a quantum tunnel with an FTL factor of thirty-six point seven recurring.'

My eyes lock in a squint and I lower my head, stretch my neck to one side then lift it back up again, looking at this Human boy. The Doctor and I give each other a dark look.

'Right,' says the Doctor, 'Good to know at least one of you knows something about Physics in this class. Moving on. Sorry, Milo this may be a little below level for you, but you can help bring the others up to speed. Today we're going to learn about gravitational fields and their…'

I keep an eye on Milo the whole lesson.

At lunch we walk over to the cafeteria and get served by Rose. She gives the Doctor a grumpy look while he just smiles at her and walks over to a table. I'm a few down in the line. When it's my turn, she manages half a smile. I smile back sympathetically and give her a 'we've found something,' look. Her eyes widen ever so slightly then I give a cheery nod and walk over to the table.

'You know, you could be nicer to Rose about this.'

'Nah, she's fine. She's loving this.'

'No she's not! Be nicer to her!'

'Oh, she's not that bothered!'

'Doctor, have you ever tried serving to a cafeteria full of kids where there's a bunch of extra-terrestrials hanging about the place?'

'Once or twice.'

'And the difference is you'd know what's going on! She's a human, lay off it for a while!'

The Doctor makes to retaliate innocently when I'm saved by Rose, who's coming over. She starts wiping the table.

'Two days.'

'Sorry, er, there's just… a bit of… gravy, there.'

Rose starts wiping it.

'No, no, just, just _there_.' The Doctor points with his fork.

I kick him hard under the table.

'Ow!'

Rose smiles as I glare at him.

'Two days we've been here.'

'Well blame your boyfriends he's the one who put us onto this.'

I touch the Doctor's leg with my boot again, warning him.

At the mention of Mickey the boyfriend, Rose puts her head down.

'And he was right.'

'Boy in class this morning.' I say, 'Got knowledge way beyond planet Earth. Beyond Human knowledge in fact.'

Rose nods her head slightly. 'Aren't you eating those chips?'

'Yeah, they're a bit… different.'

'Mmm, something wrong with them.'

Rose tries one. 'Oh, but they're gorgeous. Wish I had school food like this.'

I move over as she walks round the table and sits next to me and in front of the Doctor.

'Seems well behaved, this place,' says the Doctor, looking round. 'I thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy Slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones, eh? Oh yeah, don't tell me I don't fit in.'

'I wasn't going to mention it,' I say, inspecting a chip.

A dinner lady comes over. 'You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting.'

Rose quickly stands up. 'I was just talking to this teacher.'

'Hello!' The Doctor has his very happy, bouncy face on.

"Not helping!" I mouth at him.

'He doesn't like the chips,' says Rose.

Good cover.

'The menu has been specifically designed by the Headmaster to improve concentration and performance.'

'What, by serving _chips_?!' I mutter.

The Doctor's eyes quickly float to Myn and I raise a "just saying" eyebrow.

'Now get back to work!' The lady walks off.

Rose looks slightly crestfallen. 'See? This is me! Dinner Lady!'

'I'll have the crumble!' calls the Doctor. I smile.

'I'm so going to kill you.' Rose continues walking off.

Just as she has gone, we notice one of the teachers walking toward the table in front of us.

'Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class.'

Melissa nods. The teacher turns to the boy on the end. 'Kenny, not eating the chips?"

My eyes narrow and harden.

'I'm not allowed them.'

'Luke, extra class, now.' He walks off.

The Doctor and I continue watching as people move about. Our eyes fall onto a man standing at the top of a landing above us. He's standing with a serene look on his face and emotionless, moving his head almost robotically.

I'm sitting in the staff room passing the Doctor biscuits as we talk to another teacher.

'Yesterday, I had a twelve year old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy in cubits.'

'And it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?'

I look back down to the biscuits, listening carefully.

'Finch arrived three months ago. Next day half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot.' He nods to a few teachers chatting near the blue chairs. 'Except for the teacher you replaced and that was just plain weird her winning the lottery like that.'

'How's that weird?' I ask.

'She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight.'

I pass over another biscuit as the teacher gives us a nod and goes off to make another cup of tea.

'The world is very strange.'

I'm about to reply when we hear Finch. 'Excuse me, colleagues.'

The Doctor and I turn and can't believe our eyes. We stand up slowly.

'A moment of your time. May I introduce Miss Sarah-Jane Smith. Miss Smith is a journalist, who's writing a profile about _me_, for the Sunday Times.'

Sarah Jane looks to us, joy and disbelief lit up so much on our faces.

'I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak. Don't spare my blushes.' He leaves. Sarah-Jane walks over to us.

'Hello.'

'Oh I should think so.' The Doctor can't stop smiling.

'And, you are…?'

'Hm? Er…'

'Smith. He's John Smith,' I say, knowing full well the Doctor won't snap out of it anytime soon. 'I'm his niece.'

'John Smith? Ha… I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name.'

I resist the urge to grin my face off.

'Well, it's a very common name,' says The Doctor, not sounding much like himself.

'He was a very… uncommon man.'

I grip the back of the Doctor's jacket to stop him from moving and tripping over a wire at his feet.

'Nice to meet you,' says Sarah Jane and holds out her hand.

'Nice to meet you. Yes! Very nice! More than nice, brilliant!'

I dig the base of my hand into the Doctor's back and he goes quiet as Sarah Jane shakes my hand too.

'Um… so um… have you worked here long?'

'N… no! Er... it's only my second day.'

'Oh, you're new then? So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum?'

A mischievous and knowing twitch comes across the corner of my mouth.

'So many children getting ill, doesn't that strike you as odd?'

'You don't sound like someone just doing a profile.'

The Doctor still won't stop grinning and I'm clenching his jacket very hard.'

'Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here,' Sarah Jane says lightly and walks off.

'No. Good for you. Good for you. Oh, good for you, Sarah-Jane Smith.'

The Doctor is still watching her so I push him round to make him face the other way. He still looks completely dazed so I slap him quietly.

'Ow! What?'

'Would you stop grinning like an absolute _goof_?! You look like an idiot!'

'What? But it's Sarah Jane!'

'Yes, I know, I'm extremely happy to see her again too, but for goodness sake! Pull it together!'

The bell goes and I drag the Doctor off.

After school closes, we hang behind and hide out. We're walking the corridors with Rose and Mickey.

'Hoo! It's weird seeing school at night. Just so… wrong,' says Rose. I look back and smile and continue walking next to the Doctor in front.

'When I was a kid I used to think all the teachers slept in school.' I chuckle.

'All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say team. Er… Gang. Um… comrades.'

Rose and I have laughter on our faces.

'Um… anyway, Rose! Go to the kitchen get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all maths teachers. Go to the maths department and check it out. I'm going to look in Finch's office. Wizard? What are you doing?'

'I've got a feeling we'll be seeing our friend, so I'd better go and make sure she's okay.'

The Doctor nods and starts walking up the stairs. 'Meet back here in ten minutes.'

'See you in a minute,' says Rose as I walk run up the stairs as well.

The Doctor and I are about to split down two separate hallways when we hear a screeching. I look to him and we both go down the corridor to the Finch's office. We hear a human gasp and female footsteps.

'Sarah-Jane?'

'Of course.'

'She'll find the Tardis, come on, Doctor.'

We go and wait in the room near the Tardis.

We see Sarah Jane backing out of the room. She turns and sees us. I leave this to the Doctor.

'Hello Sarah-Jane.'

'It's you. Oh my God, Doctor it's you, isn't it? And Anna! I mean, Wizard! Ah… you've regenerated.' I smile.

'Half a dozen times since we last met.'

'You look… incredible!'

'So do you.'

'Hm. I got old.' She walks around a few steps. 'What are you doing here?'

'Well… UFO sightings, school gets record results, I couldn't resist. What about you?'

'Same.'

We all give a breathy short laugh. Suddenly, Sarah Jane breaks.

'I thought you'd died, both of you. I waited for you and you didn't come back and I thought you must've died.'

'We lived. Everyone else died.'

'What do you mean?'

'They all died, Sarah.'

Sarah closes her eyes and shakes her head, as if trying to shake that off. 'I can't believe… it's you!'

We hear a scream and the Doctor and I know exactly who that is.

'Oh! Okay! Now I can!' We all grin and run down the hall.

We get into the corridor when Rose cuts across us.

'Whoa!'

'Did you hear that? Who's she?'

Oh no.

'Oh, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose.'

'Hi…' Sarah shakes the abashed and rude looking Rose's hand while the Doctor looks cautiously between the two and I turn around and prepare to double over.

'You can tell you're getting older, you assistants are getting younger.'

'I'm not his _assistant_!'

'Oh, they always used that, Rose, don't worry,' I say, trying desperately not to laugh. Rose looks slightly comforted. Poor Doctor.

'No? Get you, Tiger.'

I let out a snort as I see the Doctor scratching the back of his head. He gestures forward and runs between them. Sarah Jane takes off after him. I give Rose's hand a squeeze and then run side by side with her after them. The source of the noise was Mickey.

We turn the corner to see him standing in the doorway of an open cupboard surrounded by plastic bags.

'Sorry. Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate so I… I looked through all these cupboards and all these things fell out of it.' The Doctor and I both bend down and look at them.

'Oh my God they're rats,' says Rose. 'Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed-rats.'

We stand up again.

'And you decided to scream?' I ask.

'It took me by surprise.'

'Like a little girl?' chimes in the Doctor.

'It was dark, I was covered in rats!'

'Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails.'

'Frilly skirt,' I add.

'Hello, can we focus?' says Rose. 'Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats, in school?'

'Well obviously they use them in biology lessons, they dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet, how old are you?'

The Doctor's eyes slowly go from Sarah Jane to Rose.

'Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore, they haven't done that in years, Where are you from, the dark ages?'

'Actually, they still dissect rats in schools,' I say, 'although I don't think they'd vacuum pack them. Looks like you're both on half a point.'

Sarah Jane nods. 'Oh, of course. The vacuums might mess up the bodies, meaning they don't get as good results. So what are they used for?'

Rose opens her mouth crossly.

'Anyway…,' says The Doctor, 'moving on, everything started when Mr Finch arrived. We should go and check his office. The Doctor and I march off, me throwing a rat at Mickey, who quickly shrugs it off. Rose catches up to us.

'I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?'

'Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor, and the Wizard, she came along occasionally.'

'Oh! He's never mentioned you.'

'Oh, I must have done. Sarah Jane, I mention her all the time!'

'Hold on… sorry… never.' Rose is very cold.

'What? Not even once? He didn't mention me once?'

I don't like seeing Rose being rude, especially to Sarah Jane.

'Well you're not being completely truthful, there, Rose. I've talked about Sarah Jane and so did the Doctor. Or were you too busy to notice?'

Rose glares at me, but when I show I don't care and that it really doesn't affect me, she looks away crossly.

Sarah looks to me gratefully.

'Ho-ho, mate!' says Mickey, 'The misses and the ex! Welcome to every man's worst nightmare!'

I laugh and continue walking next to Sarah Jane.

We reach Finch's office.

'Maybe those rats were food,' says The Doctor.

'Food for what?' asks Rose.

The door opens at the hands of the sonic and the Doctor and I take a step in.

'What?'

'Oh, you have got to be _kidding _me,' I groan.

'What's wrong?'

'Rose…,' says The Doctor, 'you know how you used to think the teachers slept in the school…?'

We walk further into the room and let the others come in.

'Well… they do.'

'Why them…' I grumble.

'No way!' says Mickey and bolts. We follow slowly, the Doctor shutting the door.

We follow slowly and come outside just as Mickey starts.

'I am _not_ going back in there! No way!'

'Those were teachers!' says Rose, panting.

'When Finch arrived he brought seven new teachers with him,' I say coming through the doors.

'seven teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse,' says The Doctor.

'Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people.'

We both turn back to the school. 'Come on.'

Mickey flips. 'Come on?! You've got to be kidding me!'

'I need the Tardis!'

'We've got to analyse the oil from the kitchen.'

Mickey looks horrified.

'I may be able to help you there,' says Sarah Jane, 'I've got something to show you.'

She walk sus over to her car and opens the boot.

'K9!' shouts the Doctor. 'Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9! Well, K9 mark three to be precise.'

'Why does he look so… disco?'

'Oi!' shouts the Doctor happily, 'Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge!'

'What's happened to him?' I ask.

'Oh! One day, just… nothing!'

'Well didn't you try getting him repaired?' moans the Doctor.

'Well, it's not like getting parts for a mini metro! Besides. The technology inside him could rewrite human science, I couldn't show him to _anyone_!'

'Naww… what's the nasty lady done to you…? Eh?' coos the Doctor.

'Poor K9, we'll get you fixed up!' I'm already looking at all his wiring, figuring things out.

The Doctor is scratching K9's head.

'Look, no offence but can you two just stop petting for a minute?' calls Rose, ready to get into the car. 'Never mind the tin dog, we're busy.'

The Doctor and I shut the boot, grinning.

We drive to a café and I'm sitting in a booth between Mickey and Rose and The Doctor and Sarah Jane, fiddling with one of K9's parts. Unbeknownst to Rose, I can hear both conversations.

'You see what's really impressive is that it's been an hour since we met 'er and I still haven't said; I told you so.'

I grin at Mickey's comment.

'I'm not listening to this,' says Rose quietly.

'Though I have prepared a little 'I was right' dance that I can show you later.'

Rose rolls her eyes slightly as the lady hands over some chips. 'Two quid, love.'

Rose pays.

'All this time you been giving the 'he's different!' when the truth is; he's just like any other bloke.'

'You don't know what you're talking about,' says Rose and they sit down near my table.

'Not helping them?' calls Rose.

'I am, but we can't let this part get near the rest of him while I'm reprogramming. It may reprogram all of his settings.'

Rose nods her head and lowers her voice. I don't know why. I can still hear her.

'Maybe not,' continues Mickey, 'but if I were you, I'd go easy on the chips.'

I snort slightly and listen to The Doctor and Sarah Jane talking.

'I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? I thought of you both. Great big spaceship up overhead I thought, 'Oh yeah. I bet they're up there.'

'Right on top of it, yeah. Wizard wasn't there.'

'And Rose?'

'She was there too.' The Doctor sounds very cheerful. I hear the sonic go.

Sarah becomes quiet and I know I won't be interrupting if I go over now. I pass the panel to the Doctor, who sonics it and puts it in place. I go round the other side of the table and fix wires.

'Did I do something wrong?' says Sarah, making me and the Doctor both look up. 'Because you never came back for me, you… just… dumped me.'

I sigh and sonic a wire.

'I told you,' says The Doctor, 'We were called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed.'

'I waited for you. I missed you.'

'Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life.'

'You were my life. And Wizard you were my friend.'

I smile at her sadly.

'You know what the most difficult thing was. Coping with what happens next, no what _doesn't _happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me, Supernovas, Intergalactic battles and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?'

'A-All those things you say, you want me to apologise for that?'

I keep my groan inside my head. Really, he is very silly.

'No, but… we get a taste of that splendour and then we have to go back.'

'But look at you! You're investigating! You found that school, you're doing what we always did.'

I tap my fingers on the table. 'You moved on to another way of life, Sarah.'

She nods but then turns to The Doctor crossly. 'You.. could've come back!'

The Doctor is silent for a bit. 'I couldn't.'

'Why not?'

The Doctor and I don't say anything and turn back to K9 sadly.

Sarah Jane looks for something else to say. 'It wasn't Croydon, where you dropped me off.'

'Where was it?'

'Ohh…' I groan softly. The Doctor glances at me.

'Aberdeen!'

'… Right. That's next to Croydon, isn't it?'

I let my head fall to and crash onto the table. Sarah laughs. Because of the table thumping, K9 starts up.

'Oh…, hey! Now we're in business!'

We stand up and walk round the front of him.

'Master. Mistress.'

'He recognises us!'

'Affirmative.'

I grin.

'Rose, give me the oil.'

Rose comes over and he unscrews the lid.

'I… I wouldn't touch it though,' says Rose as The Doctor goes to stick his fingers in. 'The dinner lady got all scorched.'

'I'm no dinner lady, and I don't often say that,' says The Doctor and sticks his fingers in. I laugh.

K9's probe comes out and the Doctor rubs the oil onto it. The probe goes back in and K9 starts analysing it.

'Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go.'

'Oil… ex ex ex extract. An an analysing.'

Mickey laughs. 'Listen to him, man, that's a voice!'

'Careful! That's my dog!' warns Sarah Jane. I wink at her.

'Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane oil.'

'Ah,' I say.

'They're Krillitanes.'

'Is that bad?' asks Rose.

'Very,' I say.

'Think how bad things could get and then add another suitcase of bad.'

'And what are Krillitanes?' asks Sarah Jane.

'They're a composite race. Just like your culture is all sorts of traditions from different countries, people you've invaded or have been invaded by, you've got bits of… bits of Viking, France, bits of whatever, the Krillitanes are the same,' explains the Doctor.

'Like when we say someone's half Scottish,' I add.

'An amalgam of the races they've conqured. But, they take physical aspects as well, they cherry pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognise them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks.'

'What are they doing here?' asks Rose.

'That's the question,' I say, looking at the oil.

'Although we know it's the children,' says The Doctor.

'Is that all we know?' I ask.

'They're doing something to the children.'

'Very helpful,' I say and use Rose's napkin to wipe K9.

We get K9 into the car. I help Sarah Jane and Mickey.

'So what's the deal with the tin dog?' asks Mickey.

'These two like travelling with an entourage. Sometimes the humans, sometimes each other, sometimes they're aliens and sometimes they're tin dogs. What about you? Where do you fit in the picture?'

'Yeah, Mickey, where _do_ you fit in the picture?' I ask.

'Me? I'm they're man in Havana. I'm their technical support. I'm… Oh my god. I'm the tin dog!'

I laugh. 'There's absolutely nothing wrong with being as brilliant as K9,' I say and go back into the café to get the Doctor and Rose, leaving Sarah to look sympathetically at Mickey.

Immediately I know it may not be the best, so I wait for them to finish talking and walk behind them to the car.

'How many of us have there been travelling with you?'

'Does it matter?'

'Yeah, it does if I'm just the latest in the long line.'

I feel my temper rising.

The Doctor stops and turns around crossly. 'As opposed to what?'

'I thought you and me were…'

I roll my eyes.

'I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year five billion, right? But this… but this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind.'

I see the pain on my fellow Timelord's face and start to feel faint. Does she really think like that? Who does she think she is?!

'Is that what you're going to do to me?'

'No. Not you.'

He may not get a choice.

'But Sarah Jane! You were that close to her once and now… you never even mention her. Why not?'

I'm getting very cross.

'I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay, not like Timelords.'

Suddenly, the Krillitane from the school swoops down.

'Was that a Krillitane?' calls Sarah Jane.

'But it didn't even touch her,' calls Mickey, 'what did it do that for?'

'I'm not sure,' I call back, 'just ignore it. We'll sort it out later.'

The Doctor and Rose have already turned back to each other.

'So you're a Timelord, so what?'

'You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you…'

'What, Doctor?'

'You can spend the rest of your life with me. Great if you do. But I can't spend the rest of Myn with you. That's the curse of the Timelords. I have to live on. Alone.'

'Oi!'

The Doctor turns.

I walk toward them slowly.

'That's enough, Rose Tyler. Do you _think _we'd want to leave you?! The people we love so much?! He said goodbye to Sarah Jane because he had to. Because humans weren't allowed on Gallifrey. He did plan on seeing her again and so did I. But after what happened, we couldn't. Were you not listening when he told you about what we are?! What we stand for?! The Time War. It tore everyone and everything apart. Humans die! They get one life! How dare you try and push The Doctor into giving you answers. Can't you see what his face shows?! Even if we could go back into our own lives and show you what we've seen, our reasons for everything, he wouldn't. Because he's either protecting himself or you. Most likely both. Isn't that good enough for you?'

Rose looks like I've just slapped her extremely hard.

'And YOU!' I point to the Doctor. 'Don't you realise that you can tell these people what you've seen? If you told them, they would _want_ to help! It doesn't mean they will understand, the chances are they won't even understand it enough to be too affected. They're _trying_ to understand you, they're _trying _to help!

'You think you're alone?! What about all those years I spent trying to help you? Trying to let you off the invisible stain on your hands. I have a different view on those last view days and my planet falling, gone. I have a different view on the universe but that doesn't mean I don't care! Is this how you deal with things?! Hold it all inside and let your so-called friends push you into memories you're already trapped in? Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm trapped too! But I suppose you can't return that favour. It seems to me you _want_ to be stuck in this. Because "you're the one who used the moment!" Well I don't need you to take it all! I know I did my part, and it was just as much as yours! Let me tell you something. Did you know the moment didn't work anymore?! Did you _know _ it wouldn't have burnt the entire planet? It's true. The high council thought someone like you might have that idea. So they reduced it. It would've burnt the shed you sat in, nothing more. I unlocked it! I _ensured _the death of our planet and everything on it! And if it wasn't for you, _I would've used the moment like there was no tomorrow! _In fact, that's why I'm alive, too. Because I'm not by choice.'

The Doctor's eyes widen so much I don't think they could open any further, tears coming from his eyes.

'But if you want to be trapped inside something that had to happen, if you want to be in solitude, then for God's sake _DO IT! _Go away and die somewhere, in a hole in the Tardis! Go on! But don't start _ruining _the lives of others just so you can be depressing! Because Gallifrey is dead! Any other alternative, _any!_ Still meant they would be gone. Because it was the only way. Die or die. So just _stop it!_ Gallifrey left its mark on me, too. Why can't you see that?! I'm holding a way out of your pathetic corner and you're still shielding your eyes! Is that why you didn't fight? Because you're a coward? Because now you will kill. But you couldn't when it mattered the most? No wonder you're in a dark place.'

Rose is standing there, looking at us two Timelords. Sarah Jane and Mickey have come over as well.

'You know what, Doctor? I really don't know any more. I'm not even sure if I _can _feel pain now. I could kill easily because I don't have much of a soul left to rip apart. The only things left of my soul are the memories, the strengths, the pain, the mind, the love, whatever's left of that, and the future.'

I pause.

'Maybe your way is best. Maybe it just is easier alone.'

I turn around and storm off quickly, wiping my eyes, my Tardis blue coat and long brown hair flowing behind me.

I don't see the Doctor look quickly back to Rose then run after me as fast as he can. I don't notice the footsteps running behind me because I'm too trapped. I can always see it, but when I get angry I can see Gallifrey. How it was before, during and when it was burning. I become more aware of the planet turning beneath me and can feel the universe.

The Doctor is still running after me as fast as he can. But when I'm angry, something else happens. I become too fast. I turn right down a street and continue walking. I burst into the school, draw my hidden sword and cut the Krillitane that swoops down to me swiftly in half. Timelord technology. My coat is bigger on the inside. I go into the Tardis and down to the library. There I stay, looking round at all the old high Gallifreyan written around me. I get my hour sleep and then continue looking round.

The Tardis lets me know when it's morning and I walk outside. I don't feel up to talking to the Doctor, so I wait for them and will follow them round all day until I deem it safe for me to start talking again. I see them all getting out of the car. The Doctor looks sad but not even a pang of remorse springs up inside me. He needed to hear it.


End file.
